Door-releaser.



No. 648,|7|. Patented Apr. 24, |900.

, D. F. L'ATIN.

D003 RELEASER.

(Application led Mar. 2, 1899.)

(No Model.)

ms@ i Y NITED STATES r PATENT rrrcn.

DAvID `F. LATIN, or CLINTON,l MASSACHUSETTS.

DooR-RELEAsER.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent N0. 648,171, dated April 24, 1900i Application flled March 2, 1899. Serial No. 707,464. (No model.)

T0 all zul/,0m it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID F. LATIN, of Clinton, county of IVorcester, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Door-Releasers, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specication, like letters on thedrawings representinglike parts.

My invention is an electric apparatus for unlocking a door, being particularly intended for and adapted to use in connection with firestations. n 1

As is well known, it is of the utmost importance in connection with the modern fire-department service that time should be econol a lock or bolt at the top and another at the bottom of each door, connected by rods provided with a common lever, so that when the lever is moved properly it will simultaneously remove Ithe bolts from locking engagement with the sill and lintel and permit the springhinges of the door to swing the latter open;

Y but this is at best a slow means of opening the Ass doors and, besides, is notunder the control of the driver, so that the latter must first announce to an attendant .that he is ready, and then the attendant thereafter'opens the door. Accordingly I have devised a new lock and novel connections to be used therewith, so that not only is the opening of the doors directly in the instant control of the driver, but also because of the special lock mechanism the doors are capable of being relocked when they are swung closed by theautomatic closing tus. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of my improved lock or releaser, the cover being removed to show the interior construction. Fig.l 3 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 3 3, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a sectional detail on the line 44, Fig. 2.

lIn a suitable box or casing a I mount a bolt ad, preferably arranged to reciprocatein a way formed on one side by the side ofthe box and on the other side by a partition a2, a bridgepiece a3 serving to hold said bolt firmly down against the back of the casing, stops crbeing shown as projecting from the bolt in position v to Vengage the edge of said bridge to limit the movement of said bolt.

Itwill be understood that the locks or retaining devices which normally hold fire-k doors closed ,are arranged'substantially as shown in Fig. l, there being one at the top and one at the bottom of the overlapping door y d, and the bolts of these' locks are connected by rods r r' to a pivoted plate or lever r2, so

thatupon turning said plate the two bolts y will be simultaneously released, permitting the spring-hingesv h or the opening devices of the doors to swing the doors open, and accordinglyl have provided the bolts a of my l improved lock with stems a5, threaded at their outer ends a? to receive the rods r r', a heavy spring-s encircling the stem and bear- Ing against the shoulders co7 of vthe bolt at one end and against theY end of the casing at the other end. The lower end of the bolt a consists of a block or latch-piece cts, pivoted at ce to the upper portion of the bolt and normally held downward in alinement with the rest of the boltV by means ot'a spring s', supported and coiled about -two bolts am a above and preferably retainiugt-he bridgepiece a3. f i

A positive hold or retainer @12V-(shown in cross-section i'n-Fig. et and in plan in Fig. 2)-

ICO Y or -bar a being normally impelled forward by a spring S2, coiled about the rod C20, and engaging at its ends the end of the bar a and the side of the lock-casing. The bracket dlg has at its inner end a projecting lever or trip @21, which rests normally along the bottom of the lock casing or box and is retained bythe overhanging end 0,22 of a detent, shown as an armature @23, which is pivoted at d2* intermediate its length and normally caused to engage with the lever 0,21 by any suitable means, as a spring s3.

Electromagnets c25 are mounted at d2 in position to attract the armature ai?, so as to release its engaging end @22 from the lever @21 and permit the latch aot the locking-bolt to yield under the action of the opening mechanism of the doors.

From the electromagnets u?? the Wires c2? @t28 lead by suitable connections, which it is unnecessary to describe, along the ceiling of the room of the station-house to a point approximately over the drivers seat of the hook-andladder Wagon, engine, or :other iire apparatus t usually kept in the room, Where the Wires are provided with telescoping contacts CL2 @30, normally held together in operative electrical contact, but capable of being pulled apart by the starting of the vehicle.

From the contact member L30 Wires 0.31 (L32 lead to contact-makers, there being preferably provided an automatic circuit'closer in connection With the seat, as indicated at @33, and a push-button closer di on oradjacent the footboard @35, to be operatedby the foot of the driver as he takes his seat andgrasps the reins or motor-Wheel in his hands.

.ItiWill be` understood that of course any otherform or location of circuit-closer may be substituted within the scope of my invention when broadly considered, although the arrangement and entire system as shown and described are preferred and are claimed herein, `besides the broad features of my inveutionconsidered irrespective thereof.

Having thus described my invention in all of its preferred details of construction and arrangement, the operation thereof will be readily understood.

When the driver takes his seat, if the automatic circuit-closer am is employed the lnoment the Weight of the driver rests on the seat the circuit will be closed, thereby energizing the electromagnets of the two locks or releasing devices, drawing their armatures out of retaining engagement above the levers am of the brackets uw, so that as the holds or retainers cl2 no longer maintain the bolts a against movement the latch or pivot part a8 thereof is free to swing on its hinge a, which it immediately does by the opening pressure exerted thereon by the spring-hinges or other opening devices employed for automatically opening the doors. The moment the doors areV opened the horses and truck or engine start from the station or engine house, the plug or telescoping member c3 of the electric connection pulling out from the member ci thereof, thereby breaking the circuit and releasing the armatures of the several locks, so that they are permitted to regain their normal position in engagement over the levers am, it being understood that the various other parts of the locks were instantly restored to their normal positions by the springs s' s2 the moment the doors had swung open sufficiently to escape from the usual wear-plates provided at the top and bottom of the door-casing. After the departure of the fire-Wagon the doors will be closed automatically by usual appliances provided therefor, and as they move into closing position the bolts CL of the respective locks will engage the usual Wearplates andrbe pushed inwardly thereby until they come opposite their respective bolt-holes, whereupon they will be instantly shotinto said holes by their springs s, thereby locking the doors closed. Upon ret-urn of the firemen the attendant readily opens the door simply by turning the lever r2, thereby manually remov- 'ing the bolts from their locking position, al-

though it will be understood, of course, that a push-button or any circuitcloser may be provided in the Wall or convenient place for electrically operating the several locks, if desired, and in this connection I desire to add that, While I have shown the connections diagrammatically in Fig. l', it will be understood that the wiring and other details Vwill be varied to suit the convenience andarrangementof the various engine-houses or other situations in which my apparatus may be used, and also I Wish it understood that I am not limited in respect to the details of4 construction of the lock itself, nor is the latter limited in its use to lire-doors, inasmuch as it may be employed to advantage in other situations.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

l. In an apparatus for use in fire-stations, the combination with an exit-door through which the fire-department vehicles must pass v in going to a iire, and a vehicle, of a locking device for locking said door, electric releasing mechanism for said locking device, an electric circuit for said releasing mechanism, said circuit leading from said door to said vehicle, and a circuit-closer in said circuit located immediately adjacent said vehicle, whereby said door may be unlocked for the passage of the vehicle by the driver when mounted on said vehicle ready to start, substantially as described.

2. In an apparatus of the kind described, locking devices for locking a door, electric releasing mechanism therefor, an electric circuit leading from said releasing mechanism to adjacent the drivers seat, and a circuitcloser to be operated by the driver, a'vehicle, a portion of said circuit being permanently IIO mounted on said vehicle, and a yielding union movement of the vehicle away therefrom, substantially as described.

3. In an apparatus of the kind described, locking devices for locking a door, electric releasing mechanism therefor, an electric cirment of the vehicle away therefrom, substantially as described.

4. In an apparatus of the kind described,

locking devices for locking a door, electric releasing mechanism therefor, an electric circuit leading from said releasing mechanism to adjacent the drivers seat, a vehicle, a portion of said circuit being permanently mounted on said vehicle, an automatic circuit-closer for the seat of the vehicle, and a yielding union interposed in said circuit adjacent said vehicle capable of being pulled apart bythe movement of the vehicleaway therefrom, substantially as described.

5. In an apparatus of the kind described, a door having at its top and bottom locking devices each provided with a sliding bolt, rodsv extending from said bolts toward each other,

v a pivoted lever joining said rods, whereby they may be simultaneously and similarly operated, means tending to maintain said boltsl projected forward in operative position, each of said bolts havinga pivoted block or latch at its engaging end for locking the door, and

6. In an apparatus for use in fire-stations, v the combination with an exit-door through which the fire-department vehicles must pass device for locking said door, electric releasing mechanism for said locking device, an electric circuit for said releasing mechanism, said circuit leading from said door to said vehicle, x and a circuit-closer on said vehicle in saidcircuit, substantially as described.

7. In an apparatus of the kind described, locking devices for locking a door, electric releasing mechanism therefor, an electric circuit leading from said releasing mechanism to adjacent a drivers seat, la vehicle provided with said drivers seat, a portion of said circuit being permanently mounted' on said vehicle, an automatic circuit-closer for the said seat of the vehicle, whereby thesitting down i of the driver upon said seat actuates said ci-rcuit-closer yand operates said releasing mechani'sm, substantially as, described.

8.y A lock containing apivoted locking-bolt,

a hold or retainer normally engaging said hold and holding-it in locking position, a trip for I maintaining said hold in its normalposition, a bar pivoted to said trip and to said hold for causing vthem't-o move in unison, anarm'ature movable into locking engagement with said trip, and an electromagnet for operating said armature, substantially asdescribed.

9. A lock containing a pivoted locking-bolt, arranged-"to slide in the lock, said bolt having a stem projecting from the lock at one end, a spring mounted on said stem for normally holding the bolt in forwardly-projected position, and electric releasing mechanism for permitting said pivoted bolt to turn out of locking position, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

DAVID F. LATIN.

Witnesses:

GEO. H. MAXWELL,

FREDERICK L. EMERY. 

